The trip to Temburong was BEACA last activity for this semester and it was on the 15th November 2009. As usual we gathered before 6.00am at UBD parking lot and arrived at kianggeh’ speedboat terminal around 6.37am by bus. Everything was ready and well planned until the boat that the Organizer booked was a bit late (about 15 minutes late). It took 45minutes to reach Bangar and were later guided through the tour by Cecilia Yusof; a Temburong local.
By this time, I learnt a lot from my past experience especially from our sailing trip and knowledge I gained with my fellow BEACA’s. The great thing was that we already prepare for any worst scenario. All electronics I put in my airtight plastic bag and yes, as usual, “always wear life jackets.” Safety always comes first.
When we reach Bangar, I discovered Temburong was totally different from Brunei’s CBD through its infrastructure, the air, the surrounding and not to mention the traffic. The sensation was relaxing and no stress at all apart from lack of shopping complex. We had our quick breakfast (thanks to Dr.Asmah) until we reach the village’s road, it was totally disastrous because it is not well-maintained. After a quick breakfast we went to Batang Duri with a bus and a pit stop somewhere in the middle of the road to buy plastic shoes.
Once we reached Batang Duri, we travelled along the Temburong River by longboats called Temuai, appreciating and witnessing other interesting and breath-taking environment. There was this “tree house” build about 20 feet from the ground, colorful flowers at the river side, a few birds standing on the gravel rocks waiting for its prey(fish) and more, it was so wonderful and I can’t stop looking around. The river’s current was quite rough and making the boat a bit shaky but it didn’t stop me from taking picture of the fascinating and beautiful clean environment. Now I understand the actual meaning of conserving the “virginity” of the forest. I only learnt the theory of the structure of a river in my geography lecture and now I experience it and able to see what is it looks like.
Then again there was another pit stop for registration at the Ulu Temburong National Headquarters where it was used to be a partly government but now it is fully under private sectors. It was a sad thing to see when the natural beauty of the area was disturbed by man activities when they build jetty, concrete and wooden buildings and walls beside the river to prevent more erosion from the development at the area.
“Canopy walk” was our next challenge since we have to hike a 385m path and yes~ it was tiring but worth. At the top of the Canopy walk (about 100-150 feet) I was able to see the entire forest around me and it was… (Speechless). It was made of strong aluminum metal to prevent from rusting and long life time. I can see everything- the South China Sea and “Gunung Kinabalu”. Talking about vegetation, there were more species that I never seen before but one thing I know was the area was only for research so no cutting, no burning and no littering. “Leave nothing but footprint, take nothing but photo”.
Then we went to the water pool (wasai) to chill a bit and had a simple picnic at the “slip-off slope” of the river site (rubbish we carry back with us) and head back to Batang Duri. “Traditional Long house” was our next destination and it was my first time visiting the long house. When the y says “longhouse” it was sure very long!! And we were able to chat with the family members and I was quite surprise that they were quite developed in term of technology(up-to-date with the fast growing world).I found out that Temburong people have many different races, Ibans ,Dusun ,Murut and more. They work as farmers, handicraftsmen, tour guides and salesmen and many more. We visited a food stall and enjoy it when Dr Asmah treated us durians and the forest durians dubbed by the people: "Durian Tayie".
This experience has reinforced our cautiousness as we made sure we were prepared for the worst. We wore life-jackets, bought special shoes, brought extra plastic bags and brought a lot of drinks to prevent dehydration. Our perseverance and endurance has improved greatly, the past few weeks that despite carrying out such tiresome activities; we were still hyper by the end of the day. I have learned to not take things for granted and Cecilia has taught me the value of appreciating Brunei's forests with her continuous excursions as a tour guide. I've learned to apply whatever I've learned at school to real life situations and I believe all this has made me more confident and a better leader, environmentalist and person as a whole.
To cover every trip that I have experienced, it was enjoyable and I finally learned how the real life we’re facing now, how the environment is slowly degraded by our own people as well the culture and even deeper, I learned a lot about Brunei Darussalam. As this will be our last activity for the first semester, I would thank the rest of BEACA Friends and two incredible lecturers, Dr Asmah and Dr Irene for making this course successful.
Post a Comment